Arvind Panagariya

Arvind Panagariya (born 30 September 1952) is an Indian economist who is the Jagdish Bhagwati Professor of Indian Political Economy at Columbia University and is also the Director of Deepak and Neera Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies at School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in New York City. He served as first vice-chairman of the government of India think-tank NITI Aayog between January 2015 and August 2017. He has been appointed as the chairman of 16th Finance Commission by the government of India. He is a former Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the President of India in 2012 for his contributions in the field of economics and Public Policy. He has published widely on free trade as well as on the development of the Indian economy.

He is currently the Chancellor of the modern Nalanda University at Rajgir, Bihar; established as a successor to the historic Nalanda University by the Nalanda University Act, 2010. He is also currently India's 16th Finance Commission chief. He is the brother of noted neurologist and medical researcher Dr. Ashok Panagariya.